Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannon early on Wednesday to disperse some 2,000 protesters in the capital Ankara, making 16 arrests.

Protesters had gathered overnight in the Dikmen district of the capital and attempted to erect barricades to block traffic on a main artery.

After a three-year break, the European Union on Tuesday agreed to reopen EU membership talks with Turkey but delayed them several months due to concerns notably from Germany over Ankara's tough crackdown on anti-government protests.

Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said EU ministers agreed to resume entry talks with Turkey but that negotiations proper "will take place later this year."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Monday police "heroism" in handling several weeks of unrest that threw up the biggest challenge yet to his government after more than a decade in power.

"Our police successfully passed a very important, very challenging democracy test," Erdogan said at a graduation ceremony at the police academy in the capital Ankara.

Turkish police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse thousands of demonstrators who had gathered anew in Istanbul's Taksim Square, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hundreds of riot police backed up by water cannon trucks moved in on several thousand protesters chanting for Erdogan's dismissal.

Turkey on Saturday called in Germany's ambassador to Ankara as tensions have flared between the two countries following Turkey's violent crackdown on protesters.

Berlin and Ankara on Friday both summoned each other's ambassadors in tit-for-tat moves as fresh obstacles have also emerged over the past week linked to Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Amid a sharp spike in tensions between Turkey and the EU, Berlin and Ankara summoned each other's ambassadors in tit-for-tat moves Friday as fresh obstacles to the Turkish bid to join the bloc emerged.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called the envoy to his offices "due to remarks from Turkish officials toward Germany", a ministry spokesman said, leading Ankara to later threaten consequences over the row.

Germany summoned the Turkish ambassador Friday over sharp criticism from Ankara over reluctance to move forward with Turkey's EU bid, a foreign ministry spokesman in Berlin said.

Turkish European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis told reporters Thursday that Germany's resistance to opening a new chapter in EU accession talks was linked to Chancellor Angela Merkel's "election campaign".

The U.N. Security Council must consider backing cross-border supplies into Syria because of the mounting suffering from the civil war, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Thursday.

Valerie Amos, head of the U.N. relief agency, slammed the "increasing violence and complete disregard for human life and dignity which has reached unprecedented levels during past weeks."

Turkey's next step forward in its stalled bid for EU membership is under threat due to reluctance from Germany and the Netherlands following Ankara's crackdown on protests, EU diplomats told Agence France Presse on Thursday.

The EU was reported weeks back to be ready to offer Turkey the opening of a new "chapter" in its eight-year negotiation process with the bloc, during an intergovernmental conference in Brussels next Wednesday, eve of an EU summit.

Dozens of Syrians gathered in the capital Damascus on Tuesday for a rare demonstration in support of Turkish protests against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Erdogan leave," the demonstrators chanted, waving Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar Assad in front of the Turkish embassy in Damascus.